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The Oregon Symphony is an American orchestra based in Portland, Oregon. Its home venue is the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in downtown Portland's Cultural District. It is the sixth oldest orchestra in the U.S.

Contents 1 Portland Symphony Orchestra 1896-1938 2 Portland Symphony Orchestra to Oregon Symphony 1947-2006 3 Prominent Guest Conductors 4 Recordings and Discography 5 Music Directors 6 Laureate Conductors 7 References 8 External links

The orchestra was founded as the Portland Symphony Society in 1896, which makes it the oldest orchestra in the Western United States. Its first concert was held at the 1,700 seat Marquam Grand Theatre on October 30, 1896, with W. H. Kinross conducting 33 performers. Included on the first program was Joseph Haydn’s Surprise Symphony.

By 1899 the orchestra was performing an annual concert series (with occasional lulls), and in 1902 the first tour of the state was made. Orchestra members shared ticket revenues as a cooperative, and elected their conductors in the early years.

Royal Academy of Music trained musician Carl Denton was a major force in helping the Portland Symphony Society enter a new era. The board of directors was elected and a manager hired. Orchestra members continued to elect their conductors for the 1911/1912 season. The order of conductor and concertmaster rotation was determined by drawing lots. Musicians were from the dance and theatre orchestras of Portland. Following fourteen rehearsals, the first concert of this new era Portland Symphony Orchestra was held at 2:30 p.m. November 12, 1911 at the newly opened Heilig Theater at SW Broadway and Taylor street. Mose Christensen conducted 54 performers in Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 in E minor and other works. Carl Denton conducted the second concert on December 17, 1911 followed by John Bayley on January 21, 1912 and Harold C. Bayley (the son of John Bayley) on March 3, 1912. Mose Christensen completed that season with the fifth concert on April 14, 1912. Harold Bayley, Carl Denton, and Mose Christensen also served as rotating concertmasters when they weren’t conducting. The entire budget was made up of door receipts, which were divided equally except that the conductor received two shares. For the first concert, each musician received $1.45!

The orchestra continued to elect rotating conductors as leaders until the symphony board appointed Carl Denton as the first permanent conductor on August 18, 1918. The orchestra began holding its concerts at Municipal Auditorium (which was renamed Civic Auditorium later). Theodore Spiering, who had guest conducted the orchestra, was the next appointed conductor. Spiering was unable to begin his first season as conductor due to his untimely death in Munich (where he was searching for new scores for the orchestra). At the suggestion of artist manager Arthur Judson, the symphony board next appointed Dutch conductor Willem van Hoogstraten. Hoogstraten’s first concert, on November 9, 1925, included Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 in F minor, performed by 69 musicians. The orchestra was now recognized as one of the fifteen largest in the nation. Unfortunately, the depression and threat of war and budget deficits caused suspension of operations in 1938. There was no regular symphony season between 1938-1947. There were some concerts however, some under well-known guest conductors. There was also a WPA Portland Federal Symphony Orchestra for one season, from May 1938 through May 1939.

The orchestra was reorganized in 1947 as a permanent professional group. A well known American conductor, Werner Janssen, was engaged for two seasons (1947-1949), followed by James Sample (1949-1953), a famous guest conductor season (1954-1955), and Theodore Bloomfield (1955-1959). The Italian conductor Piero Bellugi (1959-1961) became only the second non-American conductor since Hoogstraten. Three more American conductors followed: Jacques Singer (1962-1972), Lawrence Leighton Smith (1973-1980, the first conductor born in Portland to lead the orchestra), and James DePreist (1980-2003). (DePreist is now the Laureate Music Director of the Oregon Symphony). Carlos Kalmar, a Uruguayan of Austrian descent, is the current conductor.

During 1965-1968 the orchestra performed at the Oriental Theater at 1940 SE Grand Avenue while the Civic Auditorium was being rebuilt. In August 1967, the name was changed to the Oregon Symphony to reflect the wider scope of the orchestra. In 1970 the Oregon Symphony Pops began a longstanding relationship with their conductor Norman Leyden. (Leyden, who retired in May 2004, has been honored with the lifetime title Laureate Associate Conductor).

In 1984 the orchestra went from part time to full time (hiring its musicians full time). Also in 1984, the orchestra moved from Civic (now Keller) Auditorium to the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. The orchestra was now able to rehearse in the same space they performed their concerts. James DePreist's arrangement of the theme for The Cosby Show was recorded by the orchestra in May 1988 for use in the fifth season of that television program.

The first out-of-state tour was made in September 1992, to the Hollywood Bowl at the invitation of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Although there were brief lockouts by management in 1986 and 1989, in September 1996 the 86 musicians voted unanimously to strike for the first time. Money was the issue in negotiating a new contract. Five rehearsals and six concerts were canceled before a new four year contract was negotiated before the end of September.

The orchestra's first Grammy nomination came in 2003. Principal percussionist Niel DePonte was nominated for best instrumental soloist performance with orchestra for Oregon composer Tomas Svoboda’s Concerto for Marimba and Orchestra, recorded by Albany Records in January 2000.

Amongst those who have guest conducted this orchestra: Aaron Copland, Arthur Fiedler, Otto Klemperer, Erich Leinsdorf, Dimitri Mitropoulos, Maurice Ravel, Miklós Rózsa, and Igor Stravinsky.

The Oregon Symphony began recording in 1987. For Delos in that year they recorded the compact disc titled “Bravura” including works by Witold Lutosławski , Ottorino Respighi, and Richard Strauss. Recordings have continued, with releases also on the Koch and Albany labels. Sixteen compact discs were issued through 2005.

A complete discography is available at [1]

• Carl Denton (1918-1925)
• Theodore Spiering (1925)
• Willem van Hoogstraten (1925-1938)
• concert seasons suspended (1938-1947)
• Werner Janssen (1947-1949)
• James Sample (1949-1953)
• Theodore Bloomfield (1955-1959)
• Piero Bellugi (1959-1961)
• Jacques Singer (1962-1972)
• Lawrence Leighton Smith (1973-1980)
• James DePreist (1980-2003)
• Carlos Kalmar (2003-present)

• James DePreist, Laureate Music Director
• Norman Leyden, Laureate Associate Conductor

• Goodrich, Frederick W. “Nearly 70 Eventful Years of Orchestral Music”. The Oregonian, November 3, 1935 page 11.
• Millard, Robert E. “The Birth of the Portland Symphony Orchestra”. Aired on KPAM radio station on September 30, 1962.
• Noles, B.J. “Bayley Musical Library Donated for University Use”. The Oregonian, June 12, 1968, section II page 7.
• Programs of the WPA Portland Federal Symphony Orchestra 1938-1939
• Programs of the Portland Symphony Orchestra and Oregon Symphony 1896-
• Stabler, David. "Symphony, Musicians in Harmony on Contract", The Oregonian, September 25, 1996, page A1.
• Stabler, David. "Symphony Players Strike Today", The Oregonian, September 10, 1996, page B1.
• Wallin, J.L. “Half Century of Portland’s Symphony”. The Oregonian, October 20, 1935. (This full-page article takes the history of orchestras in Portland back to June 8, 1888).

• Oregon Symphony website